TYPE Roman Empire, period of Constantine the Great and sons, 330-346 AD, anonymous issue commemorating Constantinople - AE3 (bronze), Kyzikos mint, 6th officina
DESCRIPTION .
Obv: Helmeted bust of Constantinopolis to left, legend CONSTANTINOPOLIS
Rev: Victory standing on prow of galley, holding scepter and leaning on shield, mintmark SMKS in ex.
REFERENCE: SR 3890 var., CHK 1249
GRADING: VF+, light brown-green patina
ORDER INFO: R1833, $20
Popular issue commemorating the founding of Constantinople as the new capital of the Empire, with the image of the city's personification - Constantinopolis. For more than a millenium it shined not only as the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, but as the preeminent world capital, and retained considerable importance even after the 15th-c. Ottoman conquest.